[WSBAPT] Excluding an individual as guardian in will

[Andrekita Silva]

Law Office of
F.ANDREKITA SILVA
____________________________________________  
 
                                            
                     November 12, 2021

Suzanne,

I meant

"Sometimes, a divorced parent will say “no one from OP’s family".  If  
your client is nominating someone outside the family,  /BUT A CLOSE  
FAMILY RELATIVE  (LIKE AN AUNT, UNCLE, GRANDPARENT FROM OP’S FAMILY)  
PETITIONS FOR GUARDIANSHIP/, absent good evidence of what is wrong  
with the close family relative, I think the close family relative will  
prevail. 

andrekita
Law Office of F. Andrekita Silva
1325 Fourth Avenue, Suite 2000
Seattle, Washington 98101
206-224-8288
www.seattle-silvalaw.com

Quoting Andrekita Silva <ak at seattle-silvalaw.com>:

> Law Office of
> F.ANDREKITA SILVA
> ____________________________________________  
>  
>                                             
>                      November 12, 2021
>  
> The court must make an appointment that is in the child’s best  
> interest. A court will consider the wishes of the deceased parent.  
> However, if one parent is still alive, by operation of law, the  
> surviving parent becomes the child’s custodial parent. Even if the  
> surviving parent only had a couple days a month under a parenting  
> plan order.
>  
> If one parent is still living, but some other interested family  
> member thinks surviving parent is really not in child’s best  
> interest, that interested party can petition the court for  
> guardianship. The bio parent has the constitutional right to the  
> care and custody of their bio child so the evidence has to be pretty  
> heavy against them (like abuse, neglect, etc.).
>  
> Under the new statute, children over the age of 12 can be appointed  
> a lawyer if they want one, and the court will commonly appoint a  
> guardian ad litem if the guardianship is disputed (and there is a  
> well founded basis for the dispute).  
>  
> Sometimes, a divorced parent will say “no one from OP’s family).  If  
> your client is nominating someone outside the family (like an aunt,  
> uncle, grandparent from OP’s family), absent good evidence of what  
> is wrong with the close family relative, I think the close family  
> relative will prevail. 
>  
> In dependency actions, it’s required/ mandatory that the state try  
> to identify biological family for a permanent placement. So, I  
> believe the court would take guidance from dependency laws when  
> making a decision on guardianship matters under title 26.
>  
> So, client can nominate whoever they want.  The court will consider  
> the bio parent’s wishes but the court is obligated to act in the  
> child’s best interest.  Bio family, bio relatives have a headstart.   
> In some ways, its a good problem to have that alot of people might  
> be stepping forward to fight to care for your children. 
>  
> andrekita
> Law Office of F. Andrekita Silva
> 1325 Fourth Avenue, Suite 2000
> Seattle, Washington 98101
> 206-224-8288
> www.seattle-silvalaw.com
>
> Quoting Suzanne Lieberman <suzanne at cmslawfirm.com>:
>
>> Good morning,         
>>     Client is concerned that a close relative might try to step  
>> forward for guardianship over client's children if the entire list  
>> of proposed guardians in client's will is exhausted. Would a judge  
>> honor a request for exclusion, and if so, would the guardianship  
>> paragraph of the will be the only place this exclusion needs to be  
>> mentioned? 
>>
>>                                                         Sincerely, 
>>             
>>            Suzanne Lieberman
>>
>>           CMS Law Firm LLC[1]
>>           811 KIRKLAND AVE. SUITE 201 (please note new address!)
>>           Kirkland, WA 98033
>>           206-383-6484 (Cell Phone)
>>           206-659-1512 (Main Office)
>>            
>>            
>>           Legal stuff I have to put in... /To ensure compliance  
>> with Treasury Department and IRS regulations, we inform you that,  
>> unless expressly indicated otherwise, any federal tax advice  
>> contained in this communication (including any attachments) is not  
>> intended or written by CMS Law Firm LLC to be used, and cannot be  
>> used by the taxpayer, for the purpose of: (i) avoiding penalties  
>> that may be imposed on the taxpayer under the Internal Revenue  
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>
>
>
>  



Links:
------
[1] http://cmslawfirm.com/

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